Companies controlled by Kinder Morgan announced Sunday that Kinder Morgan Inc., Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Kinder Morgan Management and El Paso Pipeline Partners will all combine under Kinder Morgan Inc., according to a news release, making it the third-largest energy company by market value in the U.S. at about $140 billion.

Kinder Morgan has a significant footprint in the Hampton Roads region.

The firms first acquired the export terminal, called Pier IX, along the James River in Newport News in December 1989, said Richard Wheatley, Kinder Morgan director of corporate communications.

They later completed construction on a $70 million import terminal, called Pier X, in December 2008, Wheatley said.

Overall, the Newport News terminal averages a capacity of 12 million tons of blended coal annually, according to company officials, and has access to rail and storage facilities on its site near Interstate 664 to load barges with coal.

The Kinder Morgan companies also operate a large tank farm on 16 acres along the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River near the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, where 420,000 barrels of chemicals and ethanol are stored.

Wheatley said Tuesday the corporate reorganization would have "no impact on operations" at the terminals.

Officials expect to close on the $71 billion transaction, which also includes about $27 billion in assumed debt, sometime during the fourth quarter of 2014, pending the approval of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Once combined, the firms will own roughly 80,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals across North America.

"In the opportunity environment of today's energy infrastructure sector, we believe this transaction gives us the ability to grow [Kinder Morgan Inc.] for years to come," said Kinder Morgan Chairman and CEO Richard C. Kinder in a news release. "We will have a leading position in each of our business segments and operate in the rapidly growing North American energy infrastructure sector."